Safety stop mechanism for warp drawing-in machines



4' Sheets-Sheet 1 Il Il R. P. DRAKE 5 n N R 0 T T A BY v SAFETY STOP .MECHANISM FOR WAR-P DRAWING-IN MACHINES llallLY l l'olllvlblb May 22, 1951 Filed May 5, 1946 May 22, 1951 R. P. DRAKE 2,553,851

SAFETY STOP MECHANISM FOR WAR? DRAWING-1N MACHINES Filed May 3, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Yi y l INVENTOR. Russe P. Dra/(c ATTORNEYS 22, 1951 R. P. DRAKE SAFETY sToP MEcHAmsM FOR wARP DRAWING-IN MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 3, 1946 JNVENTOR. Russe/l P Dra/(e BY -'w wry,

ATTORNEY May 22, 195i R. P., DRAKE 2,553,851

SAFETY STOP MECHANISM FOR WAR? DRAWING-IN MACHINES'- Filed May 3, 1946 4 Sheets-Shet 4 r ,nnnnnnnnnmn INVENTOR. Russe/l P. 'Dra/fe ATTORNEYS Patentecl May Z2, 1951 SAFETY STOP MECHANISM FOR WARP DRAWING-IN MACHINES Russell P. Drake, Caledonia, Ill., assignor to Barber-Colman Company, Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application May 3, 1946, Serial No. 666,989

21 Claims.

The invention pertains to warp drawing-in machines and has particular reference to a safety stop mechanism :for machines of the type disclosed in my copending application, Serial No 533,160, filed April 28, 1944, now Patent Number 2,400,342. That machine embodies a pattern control mechanism in which a perforated pattern sheet, preferably of metal, selectively controls the operation of heddle turning worm shafts and release key shafts through the medium of a plurality of driving gears .shifted into engagement with an actuating rack by movement of the pattern against a series of control or fee'ler elements, the arrangement being such that when the pattern Vis moved toward the feeler elements certain of the latter are permitted to remain idle by passage through holes in the pattern sheet While others are actuated by engagement with imperforate portions of the sheet so as to cause the corresponding driving gears to be shifted into mesh with the rack. In their inactive positions, the driving gears are held locked against rotation by a positive clutch connection with stationary clutch elements, and the driving gears when shifted move out of engagement with such clutch elements and into engagement with the rack.

lt sometimes happens that the release key shafts and turning worm shafts to be operated in one cycle are subjected to .forces incident to operation in the preceding vcycle and tending to rotate the same so as to increase substantially the force required to disengage 'the drive gears from their respective clutch e1ements.` Moreover, such rotative forces imposed upon the driving gears tend to impart a partial rotative movement to the gears as permitted by a small amount of play in the clutch connections, thereby causing a slight displacement of the gears relative to the actuating rack. In such circumstances, an abnormal load may be imposed upon the pattern sheet in actuating the feeler elements, suiicient to cause the latter to pierce the pattern -sheet and fail properly to move the gears clear of the stationary clutch elements while at the same time partially engaging with the rack with the .re-

sult that breakage lof the parts occurs in the ensuing actuation of the rack. With this in View, the primary object `rof the invention is to provide a safety lstop mechanism for interrupting the operation of the machine .in the event that any of the driving gears selected for .movement into engagement 'with the actuating 'rack fail for any reason vto be shifted by actuation of f EL) the pattern sheet clear of their respective clutch.

elements.

A further object is to provide a safety stop mechanism simple and inexpensive in construction and capable of being reset easily to restore the parts to normal condition.

The objects Yof the invention thus generally set forth, together with other and ancillary advantages, are attained by the construction and arrangement shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a. Warp drawing machine showing in particular the pattern control mechanism yand driving mechanism an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating the selective actuation of the feeler elements by the pattern sheet.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately in the plane of line 4 4 of Fig. 1, also on an enlarged scale. Y v

Fig. 5 yis an enlarged section taken approximately in the plane of line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan section through a portion of a connecting link forming a part of the clutch operating means for the power drive mechanism .and illustrating the construction whereby the latter mechanism is actuated to stop the machine.

Fig. 'l' is a similar view but Ishowing the parts in a dierent relation.

Fig. 8 is a similar View showing the parts in still another relation, namely, that occupied .in the operation of resetting the safety mechanism.

Referring first to Figs. l, 2 and 3, I have shown my invention as applied to a machine of the type shown in my said copending application to which reference is made for a detailed disclosure lor the construction and mode of operation. Brieily, the machine comprises aplurality of pairs of release key shafts l0 and turning worm shafts LIl (see Fig. 5) connected by gearing |'2 for operation selectively under the control of a pattern sheet I3. The latter ypasses over a perforated drum IB (Fig. 3) and is provided with horizontal rows .of holes l5, leaving imperforate areas IB. 'The'holes are positioned so as to register with holes il in the drum, there being vone hole in the drum for each vof a horizontal series of ycontrol or feeler elements i8.

In the operation of 'the machine, rotative` movements are imparted to the drum I4 by a cam I9 (Fig. 2) acting through a bell crank lever 20 carrying a gear segment 2| arranged to mesh with a gear 22 rigid with the drum. The gear segment 2l meshes with the gear 22 when the drum is in its rearmost position shown in Fig. 2. After a stepping movement is imparted to the drum by the cam I9 and bell crank 2U, the drum is rocked forwardly by means vof a cam 23 operating through an arm 24 carrying roller fol-A lowers 25 engaging with the cam. The arm 24 has a pair of arms 26 rigid therewith in which the drum is rotatably supported.

The feeler elements I8 have extensions 21 provided with rack teeth 28 meshing with gears 29. The latter mesh with rack teeth 36 on shifter bars 3| urged by springs 32 in a direction to oppose movement by the patternA sheet.V At their free ends, the bars 3I carry shifting members 33 (Fig. engaging in grooved collars 34 splined on shafts 35 rigidwith the respective turning worm shafts Il. The collars carry pinions 36 which normally occupy positions in disengaged relation to an actuating rack 31, and the Yarrangement is suchr that when one or more of the shifter bars are moved by the pattern I3 in the actuation of the drum I4, the corresponding gears 36 are moved into engagement with the actuating rack 31 for operation thereby.

Movements are imparted to the actuating rack 31 in timed relation to the actuation of the shifter bars -by the pattern and drum, by means of a cam 38 (Fig. 2) acting upon a roller follower 38a rigid with the rack 31. The cam 38 is mounted on a shaft 39 which also carries the cam I9 for imparting stepping movements to the pattern drum, the cam 23 for rocking the drum being mounted on a shaft 40 geared to the shaft 39.

As shown in Fig. l, the shaft 39 is arranged to be driven by bevel gearing 4I from a power driven shaft 42 connected by spur gearing 43 with a drive shaft 44. The latter is actuated by a motor 45 through a'belt connection 46, a differential .drive unit 41 and a combined clutch and brake unit including a clutch 48 and a brake 49, and arranged for operation in one direction to engage the clutch and in the vopposite direction to disengage the clutch and apply the brake. The unit is arrangedfor actuation by a lever 58 connected by a link 5I with a bell crank 52 to which is pivoted a shifter rod 54 extending to the front of the machine and connected to a hand lever 55.

I I n their disengaged positions, the gears 36 and therefore thev turningworm shafts II are held stationary by the interengagement of tongues 56 onl the hubs of the gears 36 with notches 5l in locking clutch elements 58, the latter being mounted upon a frame member 59. In the normal operation of the machine, the gears 36 are shifted selectively as determined by the nature of the pattern into engagement with the actuator rack 31 so that in the ensuing movement of the rack, selected ones yof. the turning worms and therefore of the release keys are operated.

,It will be appreciated that such shifting movement of the'gears 36 by the pattern sheet acting through imperforate areas vthereon engaging the control elements I8, necessitates that the gears 36 be relatively free to move. Accordingly, when one of the turning worm shafts II is subjected to a rotative force tending to rotate the corresponding drive gear, the frictional resistance between its tongue 56 and the locking clutchelemen t 58 therefor may be increased to an extent 4 such that the pattern sheet is incapable of bearing the load imposed thereon with the result that the corresponding feeler element will pierce the sheet after having effected partial intermeshing of the drive gear with the actuator rack. Moreover, the tongues 56 are in practice tapered for purposes of easier entry into the notches 51 while the abutting ends of the intermeshing teeth of the two gear elements are somewhat beveled to facilitate interengagement. Conseduently, as the tongue of a gear element moves out of its notch, a small amount of play develops such that if the gear is subjected to a rotative force a slight displacement of the gear relative to the rack will occur permitting only partial engagement of the gear with the rack so as to block the feeler elements for movement by the pattern sheet.

, In order to avoid damage to the machine resulting from failure of the selected drive geais to be shifted properly under al1 conditions, the clutch elements 58 are, in accordance with the present invention, mounted so as to be capable of yielding in the event of partial engagement of the gear element with the rack, and such yielding movement is utilized to bring the machine to a stop. For this purpose, each of the locking elements 58 is operatively connected with a pivoted arm 60 (Fig. 4) having a tongue 6I normally engaging in a groove in the locking element and urgedA by a spring 62 against an adjustable stop 63. Each locking element 58 is in the form of a disk and when the latter is rotated against the action of its spring the tongue 6I becomes disengaged from its groove and rides on the periphery of the disk.

A control device in the form of a slide bar 64 is arranged for operation by any one of the arms 6I).- Thus the bar 64 has a series of depending lugs 65, one for each of the arms 60, and also an operating member 66 for a switch generally designated 61 controlling the energization of a solenoid 68 (Figs. 1 and 6). The switch 61 has a spring pressed plunger 69 engaged by the operating member 66 on the slide 64, and the arrangement is such that when any one of the locking members isrotated due to partial engagement only with the rack, its arm 60 engages a lug on the slide bar, shifting the bar to the l left (Fig. 4) so as to operate the switch 61.

the solenoid through the medium of a linkage 12.

The rod 54 in the presentl instance is made in two sections 54a and 54h (Fig. 6) coupled by a sleeve 13 having one end rigid with the section 54h and the other end slidable relative to the section 54a. The latter has xed thereto a plunger 14 slidable Within the Sleeve 13. The spring 10 is also disposed within the sleeve in encircling relation to the rod section 54a and one end of the spring bears against the plunger 'I4 and the other against a flanged end of the sleeve. The rod section 54h has a plug 15 rigid therewith and screw threaded into the sleeve so as to form a connection with the sleeve.

When the machine is in operation, with the clutch engaged, the plunger 14 is engaged by the detent 'Il so as to hold the plunger against movement in the sleeve by the Spring 1B andY maintain the latter under compression, the detent be-A ing slidable in a lateral extension 'I5 of the sleeve and against the action of a spring 1T, The rod Section 54a carries a stop collar 18 engaging with a stationary frame member i9 so that movement of the rod section 54a in a clutch engaging direction (to the left in Fig. 6) is limited by the collar. Accordingly, when the detent 'll is withdrawn upon energization of the solenoid, the spring 'I0 acts upon the sleeve to move it to the right in Fig. 6, carrying with it the rod section 54h and actuating the bell crank 52 and lever 59 to disengage the clutch 48 and engage the brake 49. In Fig. 6, I have shown in broken lines the position occupied by the collar I8 when the hand lever 55 is in the position shown in Fig. 1. When the hand lever is shifted to engage the clutch, the stop collar 'I8 is moved into the full line position of Fig. 6.

To reestablish the normal connection between the rod sections 54a and 54h it is only necessary to impart a sharp movement to the hand lever `55, drawing the rod section Elia to the right against the action of the spring 10, the moment of inertia being sufficient to hold the sleeve 73 and associated parts against movement while the spring is contracted suiliciently to permit reentry of the detent 1I by its spring l'1 As seen in Fig. 8, the extent of such movement imparted to the plunger 14 by a sudden movement imparted to the rod section 54a is limited by a shoulder 80 so positioned that the plunger moves free of the detent.

summarizing the operation, movement of the drum I4 by cam 23 acting upon roller followers 25 carries the pattern sheet I3 toward the control elements I8 and such of the latter elements which are presented to the imperforate areas it of the pattern sheet are carried forwardly with the drum. Thus the shifter bars 3l are actuated against their springs 32 so as to draw the driving gears 36 into engagement with the actuating rack 31 and, in the ensuing movement of the rack, turning movements are imparted to selected ones of the turning worm shafts and release key shafts. In such movement of the selected gears 36, the corresponding tongues 55 move out of engagement with their respective notches 51 in the locking elements 58 as the gears move into complete mesh with the actuating rack 3l.

In the event that any of the selected shafts is subjected to a rotative force tending to rotate one of the gears 36, thereby resisting or preventi ing disengagement of the gear from its holding or locking element 58, the pattern sheet may be incapable of withstanding the pressure upon. the corresponding feeler element with the result that the feeler element will pierce the sheet and move a distance suicient only to partially disengage the tongue 56 from the positioning element 58 and yet sufficient to cause the gear 36 to engage partially the rack 3l. When this occurs, a rotative force is applied to the corresponding positioning element but since this element is yieldable, no damage to the machine results. Moreover, the yielding of the element 58 imparts a swinging movement to the corresponding lever arm 60 and thereby to the control slide 64 and member 85 so as to operate the plunger 69 of switch 61. In the ensuing energization of solenoid 68, detent 'Il is withdrawn so as to allow contraction of the control rod by the spring 70 and Operation of the main drive clutch. In this operation, the detent H releases the sleeve 'l for movement to the right under the action of the spring 10 (Figs. 6 and 7) the rod section 54a, and therefore the plunger 14, being held stationary by the stop 18. Such movement of the sleeve is transmitted to the rod section 54h and thereby to the bell crank 52 and clutch operating lever 50 so as to disengage the clutch and apply the brake. After the abnormal condition encountered has been corrected, the normal operative connection between the two sections of the rod 54 is reestablshed by moving the hand lever 455 sharply forwardly (Fig. 1) so as to compress the spring 10 sufficiently to permit reentry of the detent 1|.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a warp drawing machine having a shaft to be operated, a power driven actuator, a drive element shiftable to establish a driving connection between said shaft and said actuator, and pattern actuated means for shifting said element; a safety stop mechanism including a yieldable member movable by said actuator upon a partial shifting only of the drive element by the pattern actuated means, and means responsive to such yielding movement of said member to inter'- rupt the operation of the machine.

2. In a warp drawing machine having a shaft to be operated, a power driven actuator, a drive element shiftable to establish a driving connection between said shaft and said actuator, a locking member normally holding said drive element against rotation, said drive element having a disengageable connection with said member, and pattern actuated means for shifting said drive element out of engagement with said locking member and into engagement with said actuatcr. said locking member being mounted for yielding movement upon failure of the drive element to move out of engagement with said actuatcr.

3. in a warp drawing machine having a shaft to be operated, a power driven actuator, a drive element shiftabie to establish a driving cannestion between said shaft and said actuator, a locking member normally holding said drive element against rotation, said drive element having a disengageable connection with said member, pattern actuated means for shifting said drive ele'- ment out of engagement with said locking member and into engagement with said actuator, said locking member being rotatable by the drive elel .ent in the event of movement of the latter into only partially engaged relation to the actuator, and means responsive to such rotation of the locking member to interrupt the operation of the machine.

4. in a warp drawing machine having a shaft to be operated, a power-actuated rack bar, a drive gear splined on said shaft and shiftable into and out of mesh with said rack bar, a locking member normally holding said gear and thereby said shaft against rotation, said gear having a disengageable positive clutch connection with said member, and pattern actuated means for shifting said gear out of engagement with said locking member and into mesh with said rack bar, said locking member being yieidable upon movement of the drive gear into partial engagement only with said rack bar.

5. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a power driven rack, a shiftable drive gear for each of said shafts movable into and out of driving engagement with said rack, a locking member `for each drive gear, said gears having disengagealoleV clutch connections with their` respective locking members, pattern actuated means for shifting the drive gears into engagement with said rack selectively, said locking members being mounted for rotational movement with their respective drive gears upon partial engagement only with said rack, and means operative upon said rotational movement of any one of said locking members to interrupt the operation of the machine.

6. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a coinmon actuator for said shafts, a power drive mechanism having a disengageable connection with said actuaton including a control member, a drive element for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said actuator, and means operative automatically upon movement of any one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator to actuate the control member so as to disengage said driving connection.

'7. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a rack bar common to said shafts, power drive mechanism for said bar including a clutch and an operating member therefor, a drive gear for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said rack bar, and means operative automatically upon movement of any one of said gears into partial engagement only with the rack bar to actuate said clutch operating member to effect stoppage of the machine.

8. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a common actuator for said shafts, power driven mechanism for said actuator including a clutch and an operating member therefor, a drive element for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said actuator and means operative automatically upon movement of any one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator to actuate said clutch operating member, said means comprising a member engageable by each of the drive elements when in wholly or partially disengaged relation to the actuator, a control device arranged for actuation by any one of said members, and means controlled by said device for actuating said clutchk operating member.

9. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a common actuator for said shafts, power driven mechanism for said actuator including a clutch and an operating member therefor, a drive element for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said actuator and means operative automatically upon movement of any one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator to actuate said clutch operating member, said means comprising a member engageable by each of the drive elements when in wholly or partially disengaged relation to the actuator, a control device arranged for actuation by any one of said members, and electrically operated means controlled by said device for actuating said clutch operating member.

10. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a rack bar common to said shafts, power drive mechanism for said actuator including a clutch and an operating member therefor, a drive gear for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said rack, and means operative automatically upon movement of any one of said gears into partial engagement only with the rack to actuate said clutch operating member to eiect stoppage of the machine comprising a plurality of locking members engageable by the respective drive elements when in disengaged relation to the rack, and a control device arranged for actuation by any one of said members when its corresponding drive gear is in partial engagement only with the rack.

11. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, an actuating rack common to said shafts, power drive mechanism for said actuator including a clutch and an operating member therefor, a drive gear for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said actuator, a plurality of locking members, one for each of said drive gears, each of said gears having a positive clutch connection with its locking member for rotation of the member by the rack upon partial disengagement only' of the gear with respect to its locking member, a control device common to said locking members and arranged for actuation by any one of them, and means operable by said control device to actuate said clutch operating member. i

12. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, an actuating rack common to said shafts, power drive mechanism for said actuator including a clutch and an operating member therefor, a drive gear for each shaft shiftable into and out of engage` ment with said actuator, a plurality of locking.

members, one for each of said drive gears, each of said gears having a positive clutch connection with its locking member for rotation of the latter by the rack upon partial disengagement only of any drive gear with respect to its locking member, a control device common to said locking members, a spring actuated lever operatively connected with each of said members and operatively associated with said control device to actuate the latter upon movement of the lever by its corresponding member, and means operable by said control device to actuate said clutch operating member of the power drive means.

13. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, an actuating rack common to said shafts, a drive gear for each shaft shiftable into and out of engagement with said actuator, a plurality of locking members, one for each of said drive gears, each of said gears having a positive clutch connection with its locking member for rotation of the latter by ,the rack upon partial disengagement only of the gear with respect to its locking member, a control device common to said members, and a spring actuated lever operatively connected with each of said members and associated with saidv device to actuate the latter upon movement of a lever by its corresponding member.

14. In a warp drawing machine having a power drive mechanism including a clutch, clutch operating means including a longitudinally contractible link having two alined sections, a detent mounted on one section for normally holding the two sections in extended relation and a spring for effecting relative movement between said sections so as to contract the link upon rclease by said detent, said link being connected with said clutch to actuate the same upon contraction by said spring.

15. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a common actuator for said shafts, a power drive mechanism for said actuator including aclutch,

a drive element for each shaft shftable into and out of driving engagement with said actuator, a control device shftable upon movement of one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator, manually operable means for shifting said clutch including a member connected with the clutch, spring means for shifting said member in a clutch disengaging direction, a detent normally holding said spring means ineffective, and means responsive to the movement of said control device to release said detent.

16. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a common actuator for said shafts, a power drive mechanism for said actuator including a clutch, a drive element for each shaft shftable into and out of driving engagement with said actuator, a control device shftable upon movement of one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator, clutch operating means comprising a member operatively connected with the clutch, a second member, a spring interposed between said members and a detent releasably holding said members against relative movement by said spring, and means responsive to the movement of said control device to release said detent, said members being operative by said spring upon release of said detent to effect the disengagement of said clutch.

17. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a common actuator for said shafts, a power drive mechanism for said actuator including a clutch, a drive element for each shaft shftable into and out of driving engagement with said actuator, a control device shftable upon movement of one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator, clutch operating means including a longitudinally contractible link having two alined sections, a detent normally holding the two sections in extended relation, a stop for one of said sections, and a spring coacting with said stop to eiect relative movement between said sections so as to contract the link upon release by said detent, said link being connected with said clutch to actuate the same upon contraction by said spring, and means responsive to the movement of said control device to release said detent to effect contraction of said link.

18. In a warp drawing machine having a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, a common actuator for said shafts, a power drive mechanism for said actuator including a clutch, a drive element for each shaft shftable into and out of driving engagement with said actuator, a

.control device shftable upon movement of one of said drive elements into partial engagement only with the actuator, clutch operating means including a longitudinally contractible link having two alined sections, spring means tending to move said two sections into extended relation and a detent for holding said sections against move- 10 ment by said spring means, said link being connected with the clutch to actuate the same upon contraction by said spring means, a solenoid for actuating said detent, and a control switch for the solenoid responsive to the movement of said control device.

19. In a machine for operating upon warps, a plurality of shafts to be operated selectively, an actuator common to said shafts, a power drive mechanism having a disengageable driving connection with said actuator, and a manually operable device for controlling said connection comprising two members mounted for relative movement, means releasably locking said members against relative movement, said device being operative manually when its members are thus locked to cause engagement o-f the driving connection, and spring means operative upon release by said locking means to effect relative movement between said members in a direction to disengage said driving connection.

20. In a warp drawing machine have a drive mechanism including a clutch, a manually operable clutch controller, and a safety release mechanism, two members respectively connected with the clutch and with the controller, an abutment on the controller member and an abutment on the clutch member, a, compression spring interposed between said abutments, a releasable detent arranged for actuation by said safety release mechanism and normally locking said two members together for movement in unison with said spring under compression, and means for limiting movement of the control member in a clutch engaging direction whereby to render said spring operative upon release of the detent to shift the clutch member relative to the controller member to eiect disengagement of the clutch.

21. In a machine for operating upon warps a drive mechanism including a clutch, a manually operable clutch controller and a safety release mechanism, an operative connection between said controller and said clutch comprising two members respectively connected with the clutch and with the controller, means including a spring and a releasable detent normally locking said two members together for movement in unison, said detent being operatively connected with the safety release mechanism for actuation thereby.

RUSSELL P. DRAKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

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